Playing with Fire

By Cynthia Moe

Photos by Paula & Larry Jensen

The mediums an artist
chooses can be as varied
and unique as the artist.

When Paula, an artist who loved to work in traditional mediums like paint and paper, met Larry, a metal worker with thirty years of experience, they blended their various skills and talents to create a new creative identity—the artist blacksmith.

Larry and Paula Jensen of Guthrie, Minnesota, met while they were both attending college at Bemidji State University, but it wasn’t exactly love at first sight.

“He didn’t like me and I didn’t like him,” says Paula. “Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?” They married in 1991 and moved to Guthrie. Larry, a welder by trade, worked a day job at a mill and began to dabble with blacksmithing as a hobby. Paula was a homemaker and artist, and tried to sell her paintings through an artist co-op in Bemidji. She was frustrated with her lack of success in selling her art—and it was about that time that Larry began to teach her how to weld.

“It took three or four years [to learn welding],” says Paula. “It’s not something you can just pick up.”

Larry planned to take up blacksmithing when he retired. He had been “dabbling,” as Paula puts it, for about twelve years when he began to teach Paula how to work with a forge.

“The unique texture and lines that are created using this process can’t be duplicated by any machine,” explains Larry. Paula started to appreciate hot metal as a medium for her artistic talent.

“I had to learn how to hold the hammer, how to hit, and what tools I needed to get the definition and look I wanted,” she says. “It was more about learning how to handle the tools than anything.”

Paula credits Larry’s ingenuity for their success in getting the look they want from the metal. If they need a specialty tool in order to get a desired effect, Larry will design and make it himself. The ultimate goal is to form the metal into a graceful, flowing, useful piece of art.

As part of the design process for a new piece, Paula uses one of the most elementary mediums imaginable—Play-Doh. Hot steel moves much like Play-Doh does, so by using her thumb as a “hammer” she can figure out where to hit the metal and how much pressure to use to get the desired result. Paula says that the Play-Doh is fun, and as a bonus, she won’t burn herself working with it. Still, there is a good deal of trial and error in the process. “When I first started, the scrap pile was pretty high,” she admits.

The Jensens own and operate Earth Eagle Forge, where they create custom pieces for clients from all across the country. Arbors, wine cellar gates, yard gates, vases, and furniture are just a few of the made-to-order items they have created. Paula primarily works with steel, bronze, and copper—blending the unique textures and characters of the metal. She sometimes incorporates other items into the metal work—wood or glass, even stone. The Jensens won’t duplicate one client’s design for another, ensuring that each piece is the sole property of the customer who requested it.

Paula still paints and Larry still welds. However, the success of Earth Eagle Forge has changed the way the Jensens look at their identities. “Sometimes it’s weird to think I am a blacksmith, because in my mind, I’m still an artist,” notes Paula. “I don’t think anyone is more astonished than I am that I’m able to make these things.”

Additional photos of the Jensens’ work can be found at their website: www.eartheagleforge.com.